Slashdot Mirror
Europe's Largest IT Company To Ban Internal Email
Hugh Pickens writes writes "Thierry Breton, CEO of Atos, Europe's Largest IT Company, wants a 'zero email' policy to be in place in 18 months, arguing that only 10 per cent of the 200 electronic messages his employees receive per day on average turn out to be useful, and that staff spend between 5-20 hours handling emails every week. 'The email is no longer the appropriate (communication) tool,' says Breton. 'The deluge of information will be one of the most important problems a company will have to face (in the future). It is time to think differently.' Instead Breton wants staff at Atos to use chat-type collaborative services inspired by social networking sites like Facebook or Twitter as surveys show that the younger generation have already all but scrapped email, with only 11 per cent of 11 to 19 year-olds using it. For his part Breton hasn't sent a work email in three years. 'If people want to talk to me, they can come and visit me, call or send me a text message. Emails cannot replace the spoken word.'"
Until Google decide they're killing it off because it's another of their myriad of unprofitable projects. ;)
Personally I think rumours of email's forthcoming demise are greatly exaggerated. Much the same as the personal cheque in the UK. What you have to remember is that whilst so many people on the internets are saying it's a dead medium, those people are far more technologically literate than the vast majority of computer users who are not airing their opinions on email's future. I'd wager a shiny penny that those same people see little reason for email to die out any time soon.